The following invention relates to a digital photo album with an internal printer. More particularly though not exclusively, the invention relates to a digital photo album having a pagewidth drop-on-demand ink jet printhead and a source of print media located in the body of the digital photo album.
A digital photo album is typically a portable electronic device that receives an electronic memory card on which is stored one or more digital images. A card reader inside the digital photo album retrieves image data from the card and displays an image on an electronic display screen forming part of the digital photo album.
Digital photo albums thus provide a convenient way for transporting digital images in a manner that allows for their quick and spontaneous display. Furthermore, digital photo albums can include image manipulation software that modify stored images in accordance with a programmed set of characteristics. These image enhancement techniques can be used to create artistic effects as well as enabling the addition of text, labels, etc. Image enhancement can also be by way of removing unwanted portions of an image such as obvious dirt marks and by making rotational and vibrational correcctions. Examples of image processing hardware can be found in our co-pending application U.S. Ser. No. 09/112,786 the contents of which is duly incorporated herein by reference. Examples of image processing software can be found in our co-pending applications U.S. Ser. Nos. 09/113,070, 09/112,777, 09/113,224, 09/112,804, 09/112,797, 09/112,796, 09/113,071, 09/113,091, 09/112,753, 09/113,055, 09/113,057 and 09/113,054 the contents of which are duly incorporated herein by reference.
Much of the benefit of such portable prior art photo albums is lost however if a print-out of any one or more images is required. To print an image, prior art digital photo albums must be connected to a print device compatible with the photo album which requires additional cabling to be carried thus reducing the portability of the photo album. Alternatively the digital storage medium that stores the images within the digital photo album can be transferred to another computer having compatible software for reading the images and which is connected to a printer. Each of the above alternatives can only be implemented if these other computing devices are readily at hand. The prior art digital photo albums are thus yet to reach their maximum potential as a functional medium for transporting digital images.